New Homes: Adam for a new generation

Edinburgh is to get another new town, this time on the waterfront, and it will be as precisely planned as its 18th-century precursor, finds Hugh Pearman

For a man usually associated with designing one-off classical houses for rich people, Robert Adam sounds boyishly enthusiastic about new-town planning. As well he might. He’s got himself two whole new waterfront city districts to design. Not just anywhere, either. They’re in Leith and Granton, the ports of Edinburgh.

This Robert Adam is unrelated to his 18th-century Kirkcaldy-born namesake. That’s just a happy coincidence. There’s another difference, too: our 21st-century Adam is designing his new Scottish settlements in such a way that modern architects can build alongside the traditionalists without anybody throwing buns at each other. How does he manage this? The secret is something called “design codes”.

Adam has been called in by Forth Ports, owners of the Leith and Granton harbours, to contribute to their part of a huge string of waterside developments now being planned to connect Edinburgh with the sea. This means Adam is in charge